


The Creation of Darcy Lewis

by FaeQueenInu



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Thor (Movies)
Genre: BAMF Darcy Lewis, Eventual Romance, F/M, Flashbacks, I swear this plot has a direction, Romance, lots of flashbacks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-10
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-17 00:14:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 13,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29341131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FaeQueenInu/pseuds/FaeQueenInu
Summary: As Coulson handed her the folder, Tony’s eyes narrowed. “Why are you handing my intern-“ “-babysitter-“ “Shush, adults are talking: why are you giving her that?” He snatched the file from her hands as she shouted an indignant ‘hey!’ “Is this the same file you gave me upstairs? What the hell? She’s a civilian and a kid: she is not getting involved in this shit.”“Unfortunately, Mr. Stark…” Coulson took the file back as the billionaire scowled fiercely at him. “She already is involved.” Looking towards the confused girl, he simply stated, “It involves New Mexico.”Her eyes slowly began to widen in understanding. “Let me grab Jane from the other room-““No, Darcy…we need you.”
Relationships: Darcy Lewis & Loki, Darcy Lewis & Steve Rogers, Darcy Lewis & Thor, Darcy Lewis/Loki, Jane Foster & Darcy Lewis, Jane Foster/Thor, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark
Comments: 60
Kudos: 265





	1. Beginnings and Ends

He almost didn’t hear it.

The cries were insistent but faint. In this vast wasteland of ice, the only sound that he should have heard was the thunderous roar of the icy wind that chilled him down to the bone. Yet, the crying persisted, calling out from a distance.

He had already separated from his men for too long. He knew this could be a trap, but the idea of a child being alone in this storm unnerved him. His mind drifted to his own child for but a second, imagining him abandoned in this storm…

Trudging through the snow and ice, he quickly made out the shape of structure through the storm, a temple, one that the Jotnar had prayed to their Gods of Olde. As he grew closer, he could finally begin to see the source of the sound. A babe, lying in the snow covered entrance of the abandoned temple, his cries becoming more desperate.

And kneeling next to the babe was a woman.

Her hair whipped about her face as she stared down at the child, a soft wondrous look upon her features. She was beautiful, kneeling in the snow, skin pale and fair, a loose sift dress as white as the snow falling around her, one far too thin to offer any protection. He could sense from her aura that she was mortal, a midgardian: how she could be here and not succumbed to the icy wasteland, he did not know.

But when she turned her gaze on him, he began to understand.

“Hello, Odin.”

His eyes narrowed at her dismissive greeting. “What is a child of the Norns doing here?”

Golden eyes watched him closely, blinking owlishly, as if unable to understand what he said. “Am I not supposed to be here?” Turning her gaze back down to the child, she shifted her weight to settle next to the babe. Her fingers lazily waved above the child, wisps of golden seidr drifting down and around him, eliciting happy babble from him and a soft smile from her. “You have always acted like I’m at fault for where the universe takes me.”

Her words puzzled him. “I do not remember meeting you.”

“You have yet to experience our first meeting. Only then will you have a memory to remember,” she replied cryptically, moving to hover her hand closer to the babe. A tiny blue hand lifted in the air, wobbling as he reached for her, but she did not allow him to catch her fingers. “You will not remember this, however. Not til I remember it.”

By the Yddragsil, she _must_ be a daughter of the Norns to speak in such riddles. “Who is that child?” he asked, changing the subject. “Is he yours?”

She let out an inelegant snort, one that did not match the serenity and ease she gave off. “No, that would be _very_ awkward if so. And _very_ gross.” Withdrawing her hand, she elaborated. “He will be my dearest friend, someone important to me.” Her face grew sad as her eyes began to glow. “He will bring me the greatest joy and the sharpest pain and will be what unmakes my very soul.”

The words twisted something deep inside of him, practically feeling the betrayal and pain rolling off of her. “I am sorry, my lady…have you any need of help?”

Her face turned back to him as tears began to silently trail down her cheeks. “Take him with you. Please.”

This was not what he meant, spurring him to protest. “I cannot take him. My Lady, he is of the Jotnar-“

“So?”

“I am the King of Asgard!” he bellowed in anger at her audacity. “They are our mortal enemies-“

“And why should the wars of men condemn an innocent babe to death?” she countered, her face growing desperate as the babe began to cry anew. “How can you look into this child’s eyes and tell him he does not deserve to live because of the crimes of others? Have you no _heart?!_ ”

His wrath grew. “Were you not the one who said he will cause you great harm?!”

“I know! I know that he will hurt me! He will break my heart into a million pieces time and time again without even knowing or understanding that he is doing so!” she cried, causing him to take a step back from the force of her words as they echoed through the canyon surrounding them. “And he will break your heart too! You, the God King, the Almighty, will have this young boy wrapped so firmly around your heart, and he will break it just as all children are destined to break their parents’ hearts!” Tears poured heavy as her fingers dug deep into the skin of her arms. “But he will be worth it all.”

His breath was heavy, shoulders heaving from the assault of power that washed over him from her words. His eyes glanced at the gouges she had dug into her own arms, watched as she bled what should have been the color of rubies but instead a shimmering gold, much like her eyes. His gaze dropped to the child. “How will he be worth it?”

But when he received no answer, he turned his eyes back up only to find no one else there. He glanced around, finding himself alone, with only the crying child before him… but why had he ever thought there was someone else there? No one had been here when he approached the child… why had he been driven to speak to nothing?

He must be more tired than he thought. The battle had left him weary. Kneeling next to the babe, his gaze softened seeing how the child’s cries quieted at the sight of him. Reaching to lightly touch his hand to his cheek, he watched as deep blue skin faded to match his own, blood red eyes faded to a dark green. His heart clenched in his chest as he made a choice.

He picked up the child.


	2. Involved

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So from this point on, I plan to update once a week. I'm avoiding my usual tendency to just get impatient and post whenever, because I feel like the story suffers and then my will to work on it slowly dies. I have this one stockpiled so hopefully this idea does well! 
> 
> Let me know what you think!!!

_“My ceremony has passed.”_

_She perked up at this. They had spoken of it on many occasions, his excitement always tinged on the edge of their discussions, but the unusual…_ subdued _nature of his words gave her pause. “I can’t believe I missed it!” she replied, trying to be as excited as possible for him. Dropping into the crook of his arm, she curled close. “What titles did you earn?”_

_A small smile played on his lips as he stared off into the distance. “I am now the God of Chaos, of Mischief…” She didn’t miss the little twinkle in his eyes. Those two titles were well earned, and ones that he proudly displayed. But before she could comment, his face dropped as he continued. “And I am also now the God of Lies.”_

_Her fingers tightened into his shirt as she pressed her cheek to his chest. “Three whole titles. Impressive.”_

_His face remained passive, but turning to her, she could see the questions in his eyes. “You already knew of these titles, didn’t you? They are common knowledge in your time.” She did not reply, which was answer enough to him. Scowling and whipping his head around to stare into the distance, he groused, “What a burden to you it must have been to realize you had befriended someone so untrustworthy.”_

_She couldn’t help herself. She reached up and yanked his hair, eliciting an angry yelp from him before she spoke. “What burden? I befriended the God of Lies, not the God of Betrayal.” Wrapping her arms around him, she burrowed impossibly close into his side. “Everyone lies, and only idiots pretend that it is not the way of the world. You are no idiot, Loki.”_

_Silence fell between them, and slowly, she felt him relax in her arms. “You are correct, as always.”_

_She let out a very unladylike snort. “Of course I’m right.” Rising to stand, she dragged him to his feet, her snow white dress having not a single crease despite having been crumpled around her for so long. “Now come on, Mischief: we don’t know how much time we have till I leave, and we need to make good use of your titles…”_

_An almost feral grin took over his face as he allowed the tiny mortal to drag him to his feet. “As you wish, my Darcy.”_

* * *

The elevator doors slid open, and before he can even speak, his target was out of her chair and jabbing a finger in his direction. “ _You!_ ”

His brow quirked at the obvious ire in her voice, replying in his usual monotone as he stepped off the elevator. “You don’t seem pleased to see me, Miss Lewis.”

Shoving her chair away as she stormed across the lab towards him, he was half tempted to take a defensive stance. Despite her small stature, she had a _very_ intimidating air about her. Not to mention the threats she made about her taser during their last encounter…among _other_ talents she displayed. Coming to a halt mere inches from his face, she drawled in a sarcastic voice, “Gee, I wonder why that is, Agent iPod Thief.”

“Whoa, whoa! Hold up!” a voice interrupted from behind, Stark stepping into view. “ _You’re_ the jack booted thug who stole her iPod? _Seriously_?” Turning to the still steaming brunette, he gave her a disappointed look. “Honestly, you made them out to be so much more intimidating.”

She rolled her eyes. “There was a whole team of them, Tinhead. He was just the evil overlord.”

“I see myself more as just the keeper of the peace-“

“Peace was never an option! Especially the moment your evil minions _lost my tunes_.”

“We offered you a replacement-“

“And I told your messenger minion _exactly_ what I thought of that replacement.”

“You weren’t very nice to him.”

Stark cleared his throat. “Excuse me, sorry to interrupt this little lover’s quarrel-“ Darcy made a gagging sound and Phil looked offended (whether over the lovers comment, Darcy’s gagging, or the situation as a whole, no one could tell) “-but Agent interrupted my date night for a very time sensitive Iron Man business only to in the same conversation demand to speak to my intern, and he has yet to tell me why or if I should get lawyers involved again-”

“I’m not your intern, Scrap Heap.”

He waved her off. “Mine, Jane’s, whatever, details, now, about the lawyers, I have some on speed dial-“

“Uh, no dude, I’m not an intern at _all_. I’m getting _paid_ now, with an actual contract and everything!” she interjects with a look of triumph. “And Pepper, the very nice lady who signs my paychecks, added in a clause that if you act like an overgrown, spoiled manchild, I’m allowed to treat you like an overgrown spoiled manchild.”

He crossed his arms and stared her down. “And here I was, willing to offer a lawyer to get you out of whatever legal wreck you crawled into.”

“I’m a Stark Industries employee now, I _always_ have access to a free attorney. Again, _contract_!”

Stark was glowering as Coulson shook his head. “Miss Lewis, you are a master at steering people off topic.”

She beamed. “I take flattery as an acceptable form of groveling for forgiveness over the loss of valuable items.”

He gave her a halfhearted smile as he pulled a file out from under his arm. “I will keep that in mind, but unfortunately, we _are_ on a time crunch, and time is of the essence.”

As he handed her the folder, Tony’s eyes narrowed. “Why are you handing my intern-“ “-babysitter-“ “Shush, adults are talking: why are you giving her _that_?” He snatched the file from her hands as she shouted an indignant ‘hey!’ “Is this the same file you gave me upstairs? What the hell? She’s a civilian and a _kid_ , she is _not_ getting involved in this shit.”

“Unfortunately, Mr. Stark…” Coulson took the file back as the billionaire scowled fiercely at him. “She already is involved.” Looking towards the confused girl, he simply stated, “It involves New Mexico.”

Her eyes slowly began to widen in understanding. “Let me grab Jane from the other room-“

“No, Darcy…we need _you_.”

“Uh, Foster would be about as much help if this is Thor we are talking about,” Tony states, before his eyes go wide. “You know, who I know nothing about…”

“Do NDAs mean nothing to people in this building?”

“Jane and I never signed one, remember?” Darcy quipped as she flipped through the file, scanning each page thoroughly. “Thor declared us to have diplomatic immunity before he left.”

“Not quite-“

“Declaring us under the protection and jurisdiction of Asgard as members of his royal court seems close enough to diplomatic immunity in my opinion…” As she flipped, her brow furrowed. “I know none of these people besides Thor. And oh wait, Robocop is in here too. What in the hell is an Avenger?” Looking up, she demanded, “What aren’t you telling me? Did Thor touchdown on Earth?”

“No,” Coulson replied smoothly, shaking his head. “It was his brother, Loki-“

“Don’t you _dare_ fucking lie to me.”

Both of the men startled at the quiet, dark tone to the young woman’s voice. Blinking in confusion, Phil started, “Miss Lewis, this is not a lie-“

“Loki _died_ during the New Mexico incident. I saw it. You know this. I told-” Her voice cracked, her face contorting momentarily into pain. Without finishing reading, she shoved the file harshly into Coulson’s chest, her face shifting into a look of true malice. “He’s _dead._ ” Staring in utter shock and surprise, it took Coulson a minute to regain his composure. Out of every reaction he could have thought of, this was certainly not what he had expected.

Opening the file back up and pulling out a grainy picture, he cautiously handed it to her as she eyed it like it might come to life and bite her. “We managed to get this image from one of our surveillance cameras. This man attacked one of our most secure and fortified bases less than 24 hours ago…all while claiming to be Loki of Asgard.” She took the photo silently, staring intently at the picture. “He used some kind of mind control on several agents before completely _leveling_ the base, killing 87 agents in the process.” She visibly flinched when he mentioned the death toll.

“Kid…” Tony began hesitantly, looking completely lost by this point. “What is going on?”

“You knew him, didn’t you?” Coulson asked carefully, causing Tony’s eyes to widen. “We had suspected that you knew Thor prior to the Puente Antiguo event based on your interactions with him and your abilities, but we had not considered the fact that you likely had known his brother as well.”

Darcy kept quiet, staring at the photo. Taking a deep breath, she slowly handed it back. “I’m gonna go get Jane now. Then we can head out.”

He shook his head. “We were planning to send Miss Foster off to a secure facility-“

“I _need_ her, Coulson.”

“…How soon can you two be ready to head out?” he asked gently.

“Give us twenty.” With that, she spun on her heel and beelined towards the other room, leaving the two men staring silently after her.

Breaking the silence, Stark asked, “What is going on?”

“I wish I knew, Stark. But something tells me that she knows more than any of us.”

* * *

“Jane. Jane get up. _Jane_.”

The petite scientist sat up abruptly at her desk, papers scattering about, having been startled awake by someone shaking her shoulder. “I’m up! Not asleep! I- coffee?”

Had it been any other time, Darcy would have found the lost, pleading look on Jane’s face absolutely adorable. But, unfortunately, the timing was poor. “Jane…”

Seeing her assistant’s eyes start to mist up, she immediately jumped up into protective mode, grabbing the younger woman in a tight hug. “Hey, easy, it’s okay… What happened? What’s wrong?”

They had only just moved into this new building earlier this morning. Most of their equipment hadn’t even been shipped over pending Stark switching the power off the grid and onto his new arc generator, but Jane had insisted on getting a feel for the new lab as early as Stark would allow. Since he and Pepper would be on site all day, today had been a prime day. But the paperwork and design layout approvals they had been given to go over had been a huge drain considering all the space and budget option Stark had given them.

That paired with the fact that Jane was on the tail end of a Science! bender had left her passed out on the desk while Darcy did her thing and finalized the major details of the space to Jane’s liking.

But Jane was certainly _not_ prepared to wake up to her usually hard as nails Darcy looking as if she were on the verge of breaking down.

“Jane…” Darcy managed as she held back tears. “He’s alive. He-“ The sobs broke through at that point, and she tightly wrapped her arms around her friend’s neck, bawling into her shoulder. “He’s alive, and he did something horrible!”

She didn’t need to elaborate for the older woman to know who she was talking about. “Oh my god…” Hugging the girl tightly, she then gently guided her towards the couch. “Sit, easy there. Can you explain? Did you shift to him again?”

Sniffling quietly as she composed herself, she shook her head. “SHIELD is here. Agent iPod Thief was asking me to consult on the shit that Loki is doing. They know that I know more than I let on.” Burying her face in her hands, she groaned. “Tony was listening to the conversation, too. Fuuuuuck, he’s going to have so many questions.”

Jane put on a fierce face. “I’ll handle Stark. I am not afraid to punch a billionaire if he crosses a line.”

Laughing weakly, she lifted her face and let her hands drop to her lap. “Look at you, my knight in shining flannel.” Shaking her head, she stood up. “We need to move, he seemed to be in a rush.”

With a frown, Jane asked, “Are you sure?… You look like you need to sit for a bit. You can’t bottle this up like last time.”

Letting out a frustrated growl, she snapped, “You _know_ why I need to go. SHIELD isn’t equipped for any of this. He’s already killed people, and I can’t let him kill anymore. ”

“Killed?! What-“

“Look, I’ll explain what I know as we pack, I promise. We just need to hurry. We’re heading out in…” she glances at the clock. “Fifteen minutes, shit.”

Jane blinked. “They’re bringing me too?”

“They would be stupid not to,” Darcy quipped, grabbing her by the hand and dragging her towards the elevator. Jane could clearly see by the girl’s face that she was trying to bury her emotions, and she decided not to press anymore…for now. “Besides, they wanted to hide you in a ‘secure’ location, and after the fifth time Tony hacked their systems for shits and giggles, I lost any faith in their ability to keep something secure. You’re safer with me.”

Jane snorted as the stepped onto the elevator. “You’re armed with a _taser_.”

“Hey now, that taser bested a God. And you should know by now…” Jane watched as Darcy's eyes flashed from a dark copper to a gleaming golden hue. “Don’t judge a book by its cover.”


	3. Compromised

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Posting a day early because I have to go out of town tomorrow to buy supplies for my birds. Hope y'all like this! Just a couple more chapters till things REALLY begin to happen...

_“Are you alright?”_

_She tried to give him a smile, only to suddenly groan yet again, leaning forward to drop her face into her lap. “I feel like the world is spinning…”_

_She felt his hands gently hold her cheeks and tilt her face towards him. Fingers carefully brushed her hair from her face. “Darcy, my dear, do you suffer from sea sickness?”_

_Stomach lurching again, she made a pained sound before speaking. “Maybe…its been a while since I got on a boat.” Said boat chose to lurch at that moment, and she let out a distressed sound._

_He shifted her over so that her head rested in his lap. “By Odin’s beard, why would you get on the boat? We didn’t have to come…”_

_With a weak smile, she remarked, “I was hoping I outgrew this. And, well…” Her cheeks reddened as she mumbled, “You were so excited to show me the Aurora, snd you said this was the best place to view it… and I wanted to see it with you.”_

_His face softened, and he gave a quiet sigh. “You will be the death of me, I swear…”_

_“Hey, don’t will that into the universe,” she mumbled, curling tighter next to him. Her eyes drifted towards the sky, and she gasped. “Is that?…”_

_Seeing what had appeared, a slow smile grew. “The Aurora…a once in a lifetime view for even my kind.”_

_Pushing herself up to see better, she let her body lean back into him as she watched the kaleidoscope of colors dance across the sky. Her stomach still rolled with each wave knocking against the boat, but in that moment, she did not even seem to notice her nausea._

_Nor did she notice how little Loki actually watched the Aurora, his gaze firmly fixed elsewhere…_

* * *

“Is the Iron Giant not coming?”

Jane looked at her as if she had grown another head. “You actually _want_ Stark to come?! And that’s an insult to the actual Iron Giant.”

“I’m running out of robot nicknames!” Darcy replied in her defense. “And hell no, but as much of an ass as he is, at least we can trust him.” She said the last part while eyeing Coulson suspiciously in the driver’s seat while anxiously twisting her ring around her finger. “I’m going to take a moment to remind you yet again of our diplomatic immunity via Norse Space God, aka, our ‘fuck with us and get a magic hammer to your face’ immunity.”

“Trust me, Miss Lewis: SHIELD does not wish to make enemies with _another_ Asgardian.” He noticed her flinch again. “We simply wish for your help. Any information possible.”

She sighed, slumping down into the seat while pulling off her ring, rolling it through her fingers as she tried to come up with the right words. “I’ll go into details once we are with the rest of this team of yours, but in short…if this really is Loki that we are up against, just don’t fucking blink.”

“What do you mean?”

“Its like…” she trailed off, staring up with a thoughtful expression on her face. “Thor always excelled on the battlefield. His brute strength to plow through enemies and charisma to rally the troops had always been his talents. And while Loki is a force to be reckoned with in battle as well, he has more… _finesse_. His cunning and strategy was unparalleled, and it was not uncommon for allies of Asgard to seek his advice for battles. He is not one to underestimate, and you need to be three steps ahead in order to keep up.”

Coulson went silent, then bluntly asked, “Miss Lewis, are you human?”

Jane let out a muffled laugh while Darcy rolled her eyes. “Very much so, Agent. And I wouldn’t be surprised if you literally have a file on my entire life tucked away somewhere, so you know I didn’t just pop up out of nowhere.”

“There isn’t much in it, especially in recent years. You lead a very guarded life.”

“I like my privacy. Emphasis on _privacy_.”

“Forgive me, Miss Lewis. You can understand where I’m coming from-“

“Yeah, yeah, I get it. Also, can we please stop with the Miss Lewis thing? My name is Darcy. Say it with me, Daaaaaarcccccccy!”

“Duly noted.” Apause. “You’ve deflected again.”

“Yep.”

“…very well then.”

The car devolved into silence after that, and Darcy eyed the back of the spy’s head before slipping her ring back on and turning her attention towards her phone. A few swipes, and she was typing furiously away.

_Darcy: Yo, I heard the weather is turning bad soon. I would close up shop for a bit._

_Kae-Kae: Thank you for the notice. Will you be heading over soon?_

_Darcy: Sorry, Jane and I will be busy. New research involving stuff from New Mexico._

_Kae-Kae: Do you both need a ride?_

_Darcy: Nah, those people we met during New Mexico are with us. Not Jane’s bf’s group, the other annoying ones. I don’t think you would mesh well with them, but don’t worry, they are behaving!_

_Kae-Kae: I see. Please be safe. Call once you are available._

_Darcy: Will do! :)_

Looking up from her phone, she could vaguely see Coulson’s eyes shifting away from the rearview mirror, and she stuck her tongue out at him. Glancing at Jane next to her, she could see the confusion on her face. “Just telling Kae that I won’t be able to check in for a few days.”

She nodded. “Yeah, that’s good. He worries.” Her eyes dart to Coulson for a moment. “Where did you say we were going again?”

Darcy could just barely make out a small smile on his face as he spoke. “I hope you two don’t mind helicopters.”

* * *

“Are you alright, Darcy?”

“I’m good,” she managed, her voice strained and hard to hear over the sound of the helicopter blades, even with the headset on. “Totally fine. I’m definitely not going to puke.”

Coulson quirked a brow. “If you say so.”

“Keep up the commentary, and I will aim for your shoes. You know. If I was going to puke. Which I’m not. Side note, that mental mantra shit about saying stuff repeatedly to achieve goals? Total b.s. Its not helping.” The helicopter jerked as in moved in to land, and her face turned paler. “Oh thank Thor, this is almost over.” Reaching over to Jane, she grabbed the woman’s shoulder and shook her. “Hey, Boss Lady! Rise and shine!”

Jerking up from sleep, the tiny scientist gave a brief and confused, “huh?” while blinking sleepily. The generic SHIELD agent across from them was a mix of concern and utter bewilderment. “You actually _slept_ during the flight?”

“She’s slept in worst places.” The helicopter finally landed, and as the blades began to wind down, Darcy began to get up and move despite Coulson’s protests. “C’mon Jane, I need solid ground, like ASAP, and- Are we on a _ship?! Oh come on_!”

Coulson let out a chuckle as he stepped out the now open door and offered a hand to help them. “Did you not look out the window at all during the flight?”

“Don’t make me tase you, Agent,” she grumbled as she begrudgingly took his hand, stumbling out. “Ugh, my head is spinning…”

“I told you to take those motion sickness pills before we took off,” Jane called out, stepping out after her with a yawn. “You’ve never flown well.”

“Oh shush, _mom._ ”

The older woman matted Darcy on the head, eliciting grumbles. “There, there. But next time, maybe you will listen to me, and you won’t end up on a giant aircraft freighter while suffering motion sickness.” Turning to Coulson, she put her hands on her hips. “Alright, you wouldn’t let me bring my equipment, so this lab of yours better be as good as you promised! I have high standards you know.”

“Uh, boss lady, literally every piece of equipment you have is pieced together with duct tape-“

“ _Shhhh!_ ”

Shaking his head, the agent replied, “I assure you, Miss Foster, our labs onboard are more than efficient.” Gesturing behind him as a gorgeous red head approached, he added, “Now, Agent Romanoff will show you to the lab while I head out to grab the last consultant on behalf of Fury. I should be back within the hour.”

And with that, he quickly headed off towards a jet idling off to the side, leaving the two with the newly introduced Agent. Darcy couldn’t help but stare at the woman. “Uh, hi…”

She offered a warm smile, but Darcy couldn’t help but feel as if there was some sort of calculating, sharp edge to her eyes. “Nice to finally meet you, Lewis. Clint told me a lot about you.”

Her eyes lit up. “You know Clint? Wait, are you Nat?! Holy shit, he told me so much about you! You know, the non-classified and not invasive shit but man, its awesome to meet you!” Looking around, she asked, “Where is Birdbrain? He owes me ten bucks.”

The Agent’s head tilted as the smile cracked for a moment. “Coulson didn’t tell you.”

Darcy’s face faltered and fell, a feeling of dread settling into her stomach. “Tell me what?…”

“Barton has been compromised. Along with your Dr. Selvig.”


	4. Reckless

_“You are terrible at this.”_

_She snorted indignantly. “Wow, and you’re fucking rude.”_

_“Need I also mention that you are also very crude.”_

_Trying to focus back in at the task at hand, she muttered, “I’d rather say the word dick than be a dick, unlike some people…”_

_Shaking his head, a grin slowly grew across his face. “You are too easy to get a rise out of.”_

_“And you have very little sense of preservation.” Holding up the weapon in her hands, she asked bluntly, “Or did you somehow forgot about the dagger currently in my possession?”_

_He rolled his eyes, pushing off the wall to stroll closer. “I am very well aware of it, just as I am very aware of how little control you have when throwing it. Now…” Settling in behind her, he took her wrists and positioned her arms while his legs nudged her into a better stance. The movements were horrifically intimate, and she felt her breath catch as he leaned in close to her ear. “Let your aim fly true.”_

_Letting her power flow through her core and into the dagger between her fingertips, she did her best to ignore his presence and focus on the task at hand. Arm whipping forward at an unnatural sped, the dagger flew through the air, only to hit the intended target just slightly off center._

_Still, this was leaps and bounds better than earlier. With a cry of triumph, she spun around and launched herself up, her arms wrapping tightly around his shoulders. “I did it! Did you see that? I totally did that!”_

_His arms wrapped tightly around her waist as he lifted her up off the ground, eliciting a surprised but happy shriek from her. “Yes, yes, I saw. You did fantastic.” Standing her on the ground gently, he took her by both shoulders and sharply spun her around. “Do it again.”_

_“You are such a fucking killjoy.”_

_“And yet you still seek out my company. Now,_ again _.”_

* * *

“Darcy…you know that this is not your fault.”

“The fuck it’s not, Jane!” she snapped, shoving out of the chair and pacing the length of the lab. Coulson hadn’t been lying when he said that the lab would be well equipped for them. Unfortunately, they were both too upset to enjoy it. “You _know_ about my past with him. I should have saw this coming. I should have done _something_.” Dragging her fingers through her hair, her beanie fell to the floor, sparking her to snatch it up and throw it at a wall. “Now Selvig and Clint are gone, and _it’s my damn fault_!”

The older woman lifted a brow. “Seriously? Loki is an adult. An adult that has had many, _many_ more years than us to learn right from wrong. You have no control over his actions. And it’s not your job to prevent him from going on a murder spree slash attempt at world domination. That shouldn’t even be a concern!” Darcy leveled a disgruntled glare at her, but Jane didn’t back down. “You know I’m right. And throwing a tantrum in full view of SHIELD cameras is not going to help anything.”

At that, she finally relented. Dropping into a chair, she heaved a sigh as she absently twisted the ring on her finger. “Yeah, yeah, I know. Breaking something would make me feel better though…” Glancing up at the well hidden camera in the corner of the room, she added, “And they haven’t been getting anything but static for the past ten minutes or so. I made sure of it.”

“One of these days, I want a full story these ‘talents’ of yours.”

“Once this is over, I swear. I just…” She trailed off, eyes cast down towards her lap as she picked at her nails. “Everything has changed so drastically since New Mexico. Its been a lot to process…”

Doing an awkward shimmy to roll in her chair towards her friend, Jane reached out and grabbed her hand, smiling warmly. “Hey, it’s no rush. Speak in your own time. And if they push you too much for answers you aren’t ready to give, you whip out your taser and I’ll start swinging with whatever I can get my hands on.”

Darcy burst out laughing. “You are scrappier than anyone gives you credit for.”

“You better remember it! And Tony probably would back us up.”

“Ugh, yeah, Hot Rod is pretty loyal.” She then saw something shift on Jane’s face, and Darcy sighed. “Just say it, Boss Lady.”

She held her hands up in her defense. “Well, it’s not like it’s a secret to all of us that you have more skills and abilities than you let on. We all saw you in Puente Antiguo.” And eyeing the girl up and down, she added, “And don’t forget that time you pulled a dagger out of who knows where on that drunk dude who wouldn’t stop hitting on us.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me-“

In that moment, the doors to the lab slid open, and in walked Romanoff with two very familiar men in tow. “Here we are boys, these are the specialists we mentioned. Ladies, meet-“

“Dr. Bruce Banner?!” Jane all but squeaked, garnering everyone’s attention as she rushed forward into the poor distressed man’s personal space. Offering her hand, she began to stumble over her words. “Hi! Uh, it’s an honor! I’ve read all your papers and your dissertation on-“

“Jane, please, _breathe_ ,” Darcy interjected, stepping forward to gently pull the flustered scientist back. “You’re scaring the poor guy and- _holy shit, is that Steve Rogers?!_ ”

“Uh-“ was all the taller and even more distressed man managed before Darcy practically pounced.

“Dude, it’s such an honor! Like- Like I had heard that you had been found alive in the ice, but I thought that was just a rumor, but unless you are like a stupidly accurate impersonator who also happens to have SHIELD clearance, you look just like those old war photos and how do I- just, thank you!”

“Um, you’re welcome?…” he managed weakly, clearly overwhelmed by her exuberance.

She stepped back out of his space, as she continued to ramble. “Sorry, just, my mom told me about how my Grandpa was part of the 107th. You saved him and the others when no one else would go after them. Just… I wouldn’t even exist without you and-“ She shook her head, her voice trailing off. “Sorry, I’m making this super awkward, I’m sorry…”

His face softened when she mentioned the unit. “No, it’s alright. I appreciate the thanks…”

Romanoff smirked at the room, seeming to revel in the awkward tension. “Well, since I apparently don’t have to introduce the boys, let me introduce these lovely ladies.” She rested a hand on the still starstruck little scientist’s shoulder. “Dr. Jane Foster, an astrophysicist who specializes in Einstein Rosen bridges.” With a pointed look at Rogers, she added, “Basically, the construction of wormhole portals.”

Then, glancing at Darcy, she added in a stiff voice, “And this is Miss Darcy Lewis. Her assistant.” Then, in a more aloof tone, she said, “They’ve both had experience dealing with Asgardians. _Some_ more than others, apparently.”

Rogers looked confused by this. “They’ve had contact with Asgard? Why wasn’t this in any of the briefing files?”

Nat looked like the cat that caught the canary. “Because the last time an Asgardian touched down, said Asgardian _prince_ , Thor, declared them untouchable. They essentially have diplomatic immunity: we can’t even ask questions without their approval.”

“Yeah, because being interrogated by an international spy organization is something I want on my to do list,” Darcy snapped before pointing a finger at the spy. “Don’t act like we were holding out relevant information on purpose. We told you everything we could that we thought Asgard would be okay with sharing.”

“Except the fact that you have a prior relationship with Loki.”

Rogers tensed, seeming to go on the defensive at this fact, while Banner took a _giant_ and very noticeable step back as Darcy practically glowered a hole through Nat’s head. “My _relationship_ with Loki had _nothing_ to do with SHIELD,” Darcy bitterly snapped, ignoring Jane wrapping a hand around her arm. “For that matter, as far as I knew, he was _dead_. And anything he and I had died the moment I found out what he was doing during New Mexico. Oh, also, _it was none of your damn business!_ ”

“It still doesn’t change the fact that it took you two months after returning from Asgard to tell us that he was actually dead.” The spy’s head tilted like a cat zeroing in on its prey. “That seemed like an important detail to leave out.”

Now Jane stepped forward, a righteous ball of tiny fury. “Your people saw her! You saw the injuries! She didn’t speak for a whole damn _month_ after coming back from that fight, and don’t you _dare_ try and turn this on her for trying to cope with a traumatic experience like that! Someone she trusted nearly _killed_ her-“

“ _Enough!_ ” The new voice cut off Jane mid tirade, gaining everyone’s attention in the room. In strode a man clad all in black, one eye covered in an eyepatch and a scowl crossing his face. “Romanoff, I expressly told you _not_ to interrogate Miss Lewis.”

The agent practically growled. “Sir, I was getting information-“

“Information that they were planning to tell us in the first damn place, only now they are pissed off. They are here to help us, and we don’t want to make them distrust us anymore than they already do.” Seeming done with that conversation, he turned abruptly to the two being discussed and attempted to be diplomatic. “I’m sorry about that, everyone is a bit… _tense_ at the moment.”

Darcy couldn’t help herself. “You look like Reverse Odin-“

Jane slapped a hand over the younger girl’s mouth. “You must be the Director that Coulson mentioned. Fury, right? Sorry, but do you perhaps have a conference room where we can continue this… discussion?”

Yanking the hand from her mouth, Darcy added, “And can we have Agent iPod Thief back? He’s nicer than Nat.”

Fury let out a low chuckle. “You think Romanoff is not being nice? This is her on her best behavior.”

“Oh…” she drawled in an unenthused way as she warily glanced back at the now stone faced agent. “Lovely.”

Rogers cleared his throat. “Can we go back to the part where the young lady admitted that she’s been to an _alien planet?_ ”

Banner shook his head in exasperation. “Yeah, asking me aboard this ship was a _great_ idea.”

* * *

“So, now that everyone is calmer,” Fury declared as they all followed him onto the bridge. “I’d like to thank you all for coming to assist.”

“Yeah, it’s been a _blast_ so far,” Darcy drawled, earning an elbow to the side from Jane.

Banner stepped a little farther away from the tiny scientist. “Thanks for asking nicely. So uh… how long do you need me?”

“Once we get our hands on the Tesseract, you’re in the clear,” Fury replied smoothly.

“Where are you with that?“ Banner began as Darcy mouthed in the background ‘Whats a Tesseract?’ to Jane who simply shrugged.

As Banner wandered off to Fury to discuss details with Jane, Romanoff, and Coulson in tow, Darcy hung back, looking around the bridge and suddenly feeling very much at a loss. This was way out of her wheelhouse: she had seen a lot in her few years, but never anything like this. It was overwhelming, and she suddenly felt the weight of it all settling on her shoulders. Everyone had a role, even Jane with her knowledge, and she was merely the outsider who was friends with the enemy…

“Are you alright, ma’am?…”

Startled from her inner brooding, she spun around to come face to face with a concerned looking Captain. “Oh! Uh, I’m fine. Juuuuuust peachy.” Her eyes trailed around the room, seeing the numerous agents milling about, moving from station to station. “This is all just a bit more than I anticipated.”

Chuckling, he replied, “Yeah, this is certainly out of my comfort zone.” His head tilted a bit as he seemed to try and think over his next words. “I’m sorry for not stepping in earlier.”

“Wait, you mean the spat with Nat?” Shaking her head, she waved him off. “Dude, don’t apologize. I’m a big girl, I can handle a bit of a cat fight. She’s worried about Clint: I would be way nastier in her shoes.”

“You mean if it were Loki who was taken instead?”

She went quiet at that, not sure of how to respond. Speaking hesitantly, she answered, “If it had been before the New Mexico incident…now, I’m not so sure.”

For a moment she worried he would take her comment the wrong way, but he simply nodded, an almost distant understanding in his eyes. “Everyone says you knew him, but no one seems to know any details about it,” he began, his words cautious, as if he were afraid of offending her. “What was he to you?”

She shrugged, deciding that honesty wouldn’t dig the hole she was in any deeper. “We were never good at labels. Friend, teacher, partner in mischief…We had known each other for so long that labels just didn’t do us justice.” Her voice trailed off as she turned her gaze to ground. “All I knew was at one point, he meant _everything_ to me. We danced around being something… _more,_ but I always held back. I’m just a mortal compared to an Asgardian, we were never meant to last: I would die while he was still in his prime…”

Swallowing heavily, she looked back up to Rogers with misty eyes. “Sometimes I wonder if he wouldn’t have snapped back in New Mexico if I had just taken that step. That this possibly could have been my fault for not being there for him the way he needed me.”

Resting a hand on her shoulder, he sternly replied, “Don’t ever think that. You are not responsible for his actions.”

“I’ve been getting told that a lot.”

“Because its the truth,” he told her firmly, but far from unkindly. “I don’t know exactly what you two have been through in the past, but I can say from experience that going down the path of ‘what ifs’ is a dangerous slope that helps no one.”

She managed a weak smile, reaching up to rub the tears away under her glasses. “Look at you, being all inspiring and shit.”

“I’m Captain America. Comes with the job description.”

Shaking her head, she said, “No…No, you’re just a good man, Rogers.”

Before he can even respond, a voice calls out over the group, drawing everyone’s attention. “We got a hit!” As everyone rushed over, images began to pull up on the various screens, and Darcy’s heart clenched in her chest. “Sixty-seven percent match. Wait, cross match, seventy-nine percent.”

“Location?” Coulson asked.

“Stuttgart, Germany. 28, Konigstrasse,” the agent replied. “He's not exactly hiding.”

“That’s a lot of people near him,” Darcy muttered, watching the feed while a lump of fear settled in her stomach.

Fury turned on his heel towards Rogers. “Captain, you’re up.”

Steeling her resolve, Darcy stepped forward. “I want in.”

Everyone seemed to start yelling at once.

“Darce, you can’t be serious-“

“You are not qualified for this, Lewis-“

“How do we know we can even _trust_ you-“

“Will you all just _shut up_!” she shouted, cutting all of them off. “I know him best, I know how he thinks. And he’s a fucking _god_ : you have no chance fighting him, especially with those civilians around. If there is anyone who has a shot at getting through to him, its me.”

“What makes you so sure that he’s going to listen to you?” Fury asked, curiosity edging in his tone.

She rolled her eyes. “The short answer? He has an ego that rivals fucking Stark and an inability to survive not having the last word. Seriously, why do you think I’m so good at running my mouth?” Shaking her head, she added, “At the very least, I can distract him enough to get him away from civilians.”

Others looked ready to protest, but Rogers stepped next to her. “Let her come.”

Fury lifted a brow in question. “You sure about this, Captain? She’s a civilian, she’s never been in the field before.”

“You’re asking the guy who defied direct orders in order to sneak out for his first mission,” Rogers drawled before gesturing to her. “At least the lady is asking nicely. Besides, I have a feeling we couldn’t stop her if we wanted to.”

Silence. Then, Coulson chimed in, “Sir, with all due respect, I do have reason to believe that Darcy has more field experience than we are aware of…and you’ve seen the clips from New Mexico.”

“Fine!” Fury shouted with a resigned sigh, waving them off. “All of you get suited up and on a quinjet, we don’t have time to waste. Romanoff, go with them and make sure they don’t do anything stupid.”

“Oh please, Fury,” Darcy quipped as Rogers led her off. “We prefer the term ‘Reckless Endangerment’.”

“I swear Lewis, if I wasn’t already bald, I would be ripping out hair cause of you.”

“I take that as a compliment!”

As they hurried off down the hall, she heard quick approaching feet and a harried “Darcy!” called out after her. She spun around just in time to catch a tiny body colliding into her. “You be careful, you reckless idiot,” Jane mumbled into her hair. “Don’t you dare leave me here to deal with these people alone. I need you back in one piece.”

Squeezing her back tightly, she replied, “I swear, Boss Lady, I will be back before you know it. I can take care of myself.” Leaning back from the hug, she commanded, “Now, make sure to give SHIELD hell while I’m gone, okay?”

The tiny scientist nodded, swallowing heavily and unable to say anything else. With that, she spun around and headed off down the hall in a hurry. Darcy let out a heavy sigh before turning back to Rogers with a weak smile. “Sorry about that, let’s keep going.”

He looked, ready to say something, but decided against it, simply matching her smile and leading her off down the hall without a word.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keeping up with the schedule thankfully! The chapter is where the fun begins~
> 
> Also, to anyone who is interested, I drew a little Darcy pic on my Instagram! Link: https://www.instagram.com/p/CLkkAhilg1b/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link


	5. Trust

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I caved and posted this early. Whoops.

_“Wow.”_

_He has a cheshire grin across his face. “I cannot believe that in all the times that you’ve visited, you’ve never seen the Bifrost up close.”_

_Hesitantly edging towards the Rainbow bridge, she remarked, “You do realize we spent most of those visits hiding my existence from everyone, right?” Looking back at him, she quipped, “This bridge thingy doesn’t exactly have any hiding spots.”_

_“Point taken.” Stepping forward, he glanced down at her. “Well? What are you waiting for?”_

_Sticking her tongue out at him, she turned her attention back to the bridge. Deciding to just suck it up, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then jumped onto it with a small yelp. Squinting her eye open, she marveled at the sight below her. “Cooooool, it’s actually a solid!”_

_He just looked exasperated. “You really thought there was a chance you would fall? Why in the Norns did you step on it then?!”_

_She gave him a look as if the answer were obvious. “Because I knew you would catch me.”_

* * *

“So we need a plan of attack.”

“Uh, how about one that does not involve attacking.”

Romanoff never strayed her line of sight from flying the quinjet as she let out a sound of disapproval at Darcy’s suggestion. “Afraid of us hurting your boyfriend?”

Scowling, she snipped, “I don’t care if you hit him with a tank at this point: he deserves it, and it might knock some sense into him. The problem is that we don’t stand a chance attacking him head on.”

Rogers straightened his posture. “He may be strong, but he’s just one man.”

“Wrong, Cap,” Darcy replied, rising up from her seat. “He’s one _Asgardian_ , who has about 1200 years of combat and sorcery experience under his belt. Not to mention that they are just built tougher than us. We could toss an army at him and still potentially lose.”

“If confronting him was so hopeless, why did you bother coming?” Nat asked.

She shrugged. “I figured bringing me along would give us an element of surprise, maybe enough that I could get close enough to incapacitate him.”

“That’s true,” Rogers agreed with a decisive nod. “He might not have expected us to bring you along given that you kept your relationship with him so quiet. Did Clint know about the two?”

“No, he did not,” Natasha relented begrudgingly. “He and Coulson had some theories that Darcy had met Thor prior to New Mexico, but Loki was an unknown element.”

Darcy nervously scratched her head. “Yeah, well, its a bit more than that…”

“What do you mean?”

Sighing, she elaborated. “During New Mexico, I followed after Thor back to Asgard to confront Loki. There was a fight, and the Bifrost, their gateway between realms, was malfunctioning. Things went wrong, and I…” Biting her lip, she nervously glanced between them before speaking. “I accidentally got caught in the beam. According to Thor afterwards, it looked as if I had been ripped apart…they had all assumed I died. Loki fell off the bridge soon after, and thats why he was presumed dead as well.”

Rogers realized the implications as Nat spoke his thoughts. “So you’re saying he may very well think that your _dead_?”

“Yes,” she whispered back quietly.

Setting the quinjet into autopilot, Nat was up out of her seat and standing before her in moments. “Did it ever cross your mind to mention this back when you first found out he is involved?”

“I don’t know why-“

“This is an unknown variable, Lewis. _You_ are the unknown variable!” she snapped harshly. “We have _no_ idea how he might react knowing that you are alive. We already know that he is not stable and hasn’t been since New Mexico. Did it ever occur to you that his lashing out on Earth may have been because of your ‘death’?”

Eyes growing wide, Darcy took a step back, voice wavering. “Why…why would he attack Earth because I _died_?”

“Grief can bring out the worst in people,” is all she said, staring down the younger woman. “We already know he was capable of horrible things during New Mexico, back when he still believed you were alive: imagine what he would be capable of now that he believes he has nothing else to lose?”

She stumbled back, dropping down into her seat silently. The agent looked like she wanted to say something else, but Rogers cut her off. “You know damn well that none of this is her fault, Romanoff.”

Glancing once more at the younger woman, she simply remarked, “I needed to be sure that she knew the reality of the situation. Too much is at stake to wear kid gloves around her and baby her through the little breadcrumbs of information she’s been giving us.”

“You are out of line-“

“She’s right.” That garnered surprised looks from both of them as they turned back to Darcy. Steeling her face, she looked up and firmly stated, “Let me confront him. I’ll get him to come in quietly, or I’ll subdue him myself. Either way, once we are back on the Helicarrier, you will all get your answers to _all_ your questions.”

Natasha stared her down for a minute, seeming as if she were looking for any trace of a lie. Finding known, she simply nodded and headed back to the pilot’s seat without a word. Rogers looked more concerned. “Are you sure about this? You don’t have to do this alone.”

“Yes, I do,” she replied smoothly. “He’s more likely to lash out if others are around. I know what to say, what sets him off, and I don’t have time to teach you all about him, not with us closing in and civilians potentially on the line. Besides…” A small smile grew on her lips. “You don’t befriend a chaos god without learning how to have a few tricks your sleeve.”

* * *

It had been hard to convince them to let her head in on foot. Even harder still to talk Steve into letting her go in alone. Her plan had worried him, though Natasha at the very least had seemed mildly impressed with her determined resolve. With a brave face and lots of talking, she had gotten them to agree, with both hanging back in the quinjet, waiting to swoop in at a moment’s notice.

She could do this. She had been in firefights before, and most had involved Loki as well…

Only once though had he been the one she was fighting against…and it hadn’t ended well for either of them.

Shaking her head, she willed away the thoughts of their last encounter. She couldn’t afford to dwell on that now, not when she needed a clear head. Centering herself, she called an image to mind, allowing the wisps of golden energy to travel across her skin like she had done so many times in practice. Though not skilled enough to change her entire appearance like her mentor, she did have talent and skill enough to change certain features and make herself unrecognizable at first glance.

Her hair lightened to a duller brown, while her cheeks grew sharper and less soft. Her eyes went from copper to hazel, and her skin overall became more tan, as if she had spent too much time at the tanning salon. Then, just to help fit into the crowd and stand out less, she willed her clothes to shift into a nice, but not outstanding black dress that hugged her curves just right. She looked a little off, but it was enough that no one would question her being present.

Now, all she had to do was to slip inside and find him. Making it past the guards had been easy enough: a piece of paper and a proper sigil, and she was now in possession of an invitation to whatever this gala was for. And once inside, all she had to do was find him…

Unfortunately for her, he made it all too easy.

Watching as he came striding down the marble staircase, her heart leapt into her throat at the sight of him. Even when he was clad in Midgardian clothes, he looked every bit of royalty with a dash of feral grace… yet her trance over seeing him after so long quickly faded as she watched in horror as he took the elegant walking cane in his hand and smashed it into the face of a guard. Then, she had to bite back a scream as he all but threw a man onto the sacrificial alter before jamming a device into his eye.

The look of pure glee on his face as everyone fled in terror would haunt her.

Everything else happened in a blur: the rush of the crowd swept her up and out of the gala into the plaza below. It was a chaotic mess, and she nearly ended up knocked on the ground on multiple occasions. Before she could break free of the rush, she saw him reappear on the edge of the crowd, an illusion of him at least, followed by several other illusions corralling them together.

To the untrained eye, no one could make out the difference, but she could easily see the magic signature weaving the illusions together, thin wisps of seidr leading from each illusion to the source… “Loki.”

His Midgardian suit slowly melted away, and replacing it was the sight of his traditional armor. It was his formal regalia, nothing that would be worn in actual combat, but it was impressive and showy enough to garner everyone’s attention. Part of her wanted to call him a Drama Queen, but she had enough sanity to hold her tongue as he approached the crowd, manic glee on his face.

Crossing the street, a police car whipped around the corner, speeding towards him, siren blaring. Without even flinching, he aimed his staff, which had just shifted into a terrifying looking spear with a glowing blue orb, towards the approaching vehicle and fired. The fiery blue blast flipped the car with ease, leaving it to skid to a halt just a short distance away.

Coming to a halt before the crowd, he held his arms out as he calmly declared, “Kneel before me.” No one moved, all in too much shock to know how to respond. Eyes narrowing, he more forcefully commanded, “I said… _KNEEL_.” 

Slamming the base of his staff into the ground, Darcy practically trembled from the force of the power washing over the crowd. She had never seen him like this before, and she felt like her heart was shattering all over again. Everyone around her began to fall to their knees, and as much as it pained her, she did the same. Though she knew she needed to confront him, she wasn’t sure how to do it with so many people surrounding her.

“Is this not _simpler_?” he queried as he began to pace through the crowd, a look of triumph and glee on his face. “Is this not your natural state? It's the unspoken truth of humanity…” His gaze drifted towards where she was, and she crouched lower, doing her best to shield her seidr. “That you _crave_ subjugation. The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power, for identity…You were made to be ruled.” She risked a glance up towards him. “In the end, you will always-“

His words stopped suddenly as their eyes locked, and her stomach flipped. A deep seated rage grew across his face as he stormed over, shoving people aside till he reached her side, only to snatch her up by the throat and drag her to her feet. “Now, what do we have here?” he cooed in threatening manner. His face grew closer, and she saw the unfamiliar, haunting blue glow of his eyes. “Your illusions are very well crafted, but not well enough to trick a master. Now…” His grip on her throat tightened, and she let out a weak gasp. “Reveal yourself to me.”

Not having a choice, she let the illusion fade away. The hair, the skin, the eyes, all melting away as the dress gave way to her familiar baggy sweatshirt and worn in sneakers. It took but a moment, and his grip loosened around her throat, allowing her to breathe with panicked gasps. “…Darcy?”

Air returning to her lungs, she managed a weak, “Hey, Mischief…”

He looked at her with broken, lost look about his face that just about broke her heart all over again. His hand drifted from her neck to her cheek, and in a quiet voice, he asked, “How mad must I be to imagine you here before me?”

“I’m here, Loki,” she replied softly, reaching up to his hand on his cheek. “I’m alive, I- I thought you were dead. They…they told me you were dead.” Tears of relief and pain sprang to her eyes, forgetting about the world around them and just reveling in the fact that he was _here_ , that he was _alive_.

“How do I know you are not a trick?” he asked, wariness creeping into his voice.

“Ask. Ask me anything.”

His eyes narrowed, his brain shifting through likely dozens and dozens of instances, but when he finally settled on one, he said it in far more seriousness than he should have. “Who is the first person you ever declared your love for?”

Her face fell. “Are you- are you fucking _kidding_ me right now? You know the answer, do I seriously have to say it in front of all these people-“

“I do believe,” he drawled in an impish tone, his finger dragging slowly along her jawline. “You said for me to ask anything.”

“You piece of- You know what? _Fine_. From the age of 12 to 15, I declared Bob Ross to be my true love and soulmate! And you know what? You were jealous as hell, you little- Mmpth!”

Anything else she might have said was cut off as she was dragged into a deep, soul searing kiss. They had danced around this for as long as she could remember, and every time they had come close to closing this gap, something had come along to ruin it. And now, now that they had finally closed the gap, that she was getting the kiss she had always dreamed of, it was soured by the knowledge of what he was doing and crimes he had committed.

Pulling back from the kiss, he gave her that manic, gleeful smile. “Darcy, my dearest, oh how I have missed your fire…” He pressed an urgent kiss to her forehead, his hands caressing her cheeks tenderly yet desperately. “With you here by my side, my victory will only be that much more sweet. Soon, I shall have a throne to bestow upon you, my queen…we will rule together, as we were always meant to.”

She swallowed heavily, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. “Oh, Loki…” Her hands reached up to caress both sides of his face. “Not if I have anything to say about it.” And just as the puzzled look crossed his face, she cast the spell, causing his eyes to roll back in his head, as he collapsed into her arms, taking her down with him as his illusions dispelled.

As she sat on the concrete, tears streaming down her face, she became acutely aware of the crowd of people surrounding her. All eyes locked on the pair, slight murmurs drawing up from the onlookers. Weakly, she ordered, “Run.” When no one responded, and some even tried to approach her to help, she mustered up all the rage she could, her golden seidr whipping wildly around as she screamed, “ _Run!_ ”

The crowd listened that time.

Settling on the ground, she simply arranged herself more comfortably, dragging the unconscious God more into her lap. She noticed him stirring, his body fighting against her initial spell. Panicked, she quickly murmured an extra incantation to keep him asleep, dread filling her gut as she felt the threads of the spell barely hold on, unlike how they usually do…something was _wrong_.

Soon, the quinjet landed nearby, and Rogers and Romanoff came jogging over. Much to her surprise, however, another joined them, as Stark landed with a loud metallic thunk right next to her.

“Are you okay, kid?” he asked, kneeling as his face plate popped up. She could see the worry and strain on his face clear as day, an unfamiliar look for his usual carefree playboy facade.

She couldn't help but laugh in a forced way. “Just peachy, Tony…” Now, he looked even more concerned.

“Darcy…” Rogers began, looking at a loss for words. She knew they could hear what was going on. The quinjet was likely loaded to the brim with top of the line surveillance equipment: they got a front row seat to her tearing her heart out of her chest in order to lure a monster into a trap.

Not wanting to hear any awkward attempts to make her feel better, she simply shifted the God out of her lap so that she could stand up. “The spellwork I cast won’t last for long. We need to secure him and head back to the helicarrier as quickly as possible.”

With that, she left the God on the ground for the boys to carry aboard and sped walked towards the quinjet. Silently falling into step beside her, Nat quietly said, “Thank you,” which as far as Darcy could tell was the antisocial agent’s way of apologizing for her past treatment.

“Don’t thank me yet.” At the red head’s curious tilt, Darcy bluntly replied, “I had to lay extra spellwork in order to send him into full unconsciousness: it wouldn’t lay correctly on his subconscious. That has _never_ happened before…and I learned this spell practicing on _him._ Something is _wrong…_ ” Darcy tried to choose her words carefully as she saw glimpses of worry in Nat’s eyes. “And I don’t think Clint and Selvig are the only one’s being used as puppets in this mess.”


	6. Expectations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Imma try and catch up on comments this weekend. This week has been crazy

_“It’s not what I expected.”_

_Glancing up from the scroll before him, his brows furrowed. “What do you mean?”_

_She drew her knees up more tightly to her chest, staring blankly into the fire before her. “Battle. The heat of it. I’ve never been so out of control and simultaneously in focus in my life.”_

_“Adrenaline can do that to you.” Deciding to abandon the scrolls for later, he strode over towards her. Conjuring up a blanket, he wrapped it tightly around her as he sat beside her on the hard packed ground. She never looked up at him during all of this. “Battle is never easy. And taking a life…” He shook his head as he took her hand in his own. “I never wanted you to have to do that. Death does not become you.”_

_“But that’s the issue, Loki…” The flames danced in the reflection of her eyes as she finally looked up at him, and the image haunted him for years after. But before she could finish, she blinked out of existence, leaving him with just an empty feeling of dread._

* * *

“So…Bob Ross?”

“Fuck off, Tony.”

Stark held his hands up to the young woman in a ‘I mean no harm way’ as he stepped back, but continued to run his mouth. “Hey, I get it: we all had weird crushes when we were younger. I mean, seriously, if you heard _my_ list-“

“I don’t think any of us want to hear that horror story, Stark,” Natasha bluntly replied, causing him to make an offended squawk. Without ever looking away from the control panel, she added, “And if this is your attempt at defusing the awkward tension, I say just stick to your day job.”

“Which one? Being a Billionaire or the world’s top engineer?”

“How about Iron Man?” Rogers suggested, crossing his arms with a tired sigh. “We have bigger issues to discuss than harassing Darcy.”

Throwing her hand up in a half hearted way, Darcy blandly replied, “Seconded,” before shifting her focus back to the unconscious man next to her. She had a loose grip on the shackles he wore, tendrils of gold seeping from her fingers and dancing across the metal as she muttered incantations under her breath. Her eyes pulsed a similar golden color all the while, dimming slightly every time she broke her concentration to talk to them.

Looking vaguely concerned, Tony asked, “Yeahhhh, first issue up for discussion: what the fuck, Lewis?”

Rolling her eyes, she quipped in a sarcastic way, “Sorry, I forgot to mention my training in sorcery on my resume for Stark Industries. My bad, terribly sorry for that.” Seeming satisfied in the faint, gold hued runes now adorning the shackles, she turned her full attention to them. “What do you want me to say? I’ve known Loki most of my life, and yes, he taught me magic. Well, Seidr if you want to be technical.”

“There’s a difference?” Steve asked, a brow quirked up and his face openly curious.

“Seidr is more of the Asgardian form of magic,” she elaborated, her eyes finally dying down from glowing gold to their familiar shade of caramel. “It draws from the Ygddrasil, the ties between realms. Magic, or at least, the kind that some practice on Earth, draws from just from our Realm of Midgard.”

Tony blinked. “What.”

“I get my powers from a magic space tree, moron.”

“Wow, _rude_.”

“ _Anyway_ ,” Rogers diplomatically interjected. “Semantics aside, you mean that you are familiar with powers similar to Loki’s abilities.”

She shrugged. “Familiar? Yes. Anywhere close to being on par to him? Hell no. Buuuuut, given the fact that he is likely under some kind of thrall, I know enough that I can at least slow him down if needed.” Lifting the manacles, she remarked, “Case in point. He can break through these, but it will give him a lot of problems and will alert me the moment he starts messing with the runes.”

“Well, that’s good at least-“

“He could still likely murder us all with them on, but meh, details.”

“…could you at least _try_ not to joke so casually about that?”

Throwing her hands in the air, she couldn’t help but let her tone get snippy. “I don’t know what else to say! We are ridiculously outgunned by him. I can only do so much, and he has way more years of experience under his belt than I do-“

“Don’t discredit yourself, my dear: you more than make up for it with your _enthusiasm…_ ”

Bolting out of the seat and spinning around, she did her best not to cower under his gaze. “I must say however, _this_ ,” he held up his manacled hands with an irritated expression. “Doesn’t really do it for me. I prefer my partner to be the one… _restrained_.”

Her mouth ran faster than her brain. “Maybe you should have considered that before threatening a crowd of civilians into kneeling for you.”

His eyes darkened. “Would you have preferred me reserving that order for you alone?”

“Okaaaay, we are putting the breaks on this. Now.” Taking Darcy by the shoulders, Stark practically handed her to Steve. “Take this while I give Mr. Tall, Dark, and Psychotic the shovel talk. And by shovel talk, I mean possibly actually hitting him with a shovel. Do we even _have_ a shovel? I feel like this ship is bound to have one hidden somewhere.”

Loki sneered, glaring holes into the two men. “Keep your _filthy_ hands off of her.”

“Says the lunatic who had her in a chokehold less than, what, thirty minutes ago.” Gesturing at the oddly silent Darcy, Stark snapped, “She has some very nonconsensual bruises on her neck, and as her self proclaimed uncle-“

“This poor girl.”

“Shush, Romanoff. Now, you _may_ be a God or Alien or whatever in hell you are, but I am nothing if not stubborn as hell: I _can_ and _will_ find a way to make you regret _ever_ laying a finger on her, mark my words…”

Loki went quiet, not out of fear or anything of the like, but out what seemed to be…contemplation. Slowly, he drawled out, “Such fierce protection you offer her.” Chuckling lowly, he mused, “Oh, how skilled she is…”

Darcy twitched, spine stiff as Steve asked lowly, “Skilled at what?”

Laughing in a more pronounced way, he answered the Captain’s question with a question, all the while staring directly in Darcy’s fearful gaze with his gleefully maniacal one. “What else would a girl who drew the eye of the God of _Chaos_ and _Lies_ be good at?”

“Nice try, Reindeer Games,” Tony snapped. “As if we would fall for _you_ trying to make us distrust her. You know, the _actual_ God of Lies.”

The gleeful gaze slowly slipped from his face, turning almost… _bored_ , pitying even. “Have you ever heard the stories of the Gods of Olde? Of the acts of Wrath we brought down upon those who spite us or draw our ire?” Snorting disdainfully, he simply stated, “Let’s just say I’m not too fond of her… _rejection_ earlier. And…” His eyes noticeably darted between her and Rogers, who still held tightly to her waist in a protective way. “I am a jealous, spiteful creature by nature.”

“Yeah, still not seeing much of a reason to trust you.”

At that, Loki simply shrugged, settling back into his seat. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you. But just give it time: her true colors will show themselves soon enough.” The slow, sinister smirk made her have to physically turn away from him. “Then she will come crawling back to me for protection, begging forgiveness and her place at my side. Because, my dear, no matter what you do, no matter what connections you form: your fate _always_ leads you back to me.”

Having heard enough, something in her finally snapped. “If I ever actually _need_ protection, I’ll just go to Thor.”

His seat restraints snapped as he launched up to his feet, a vicious, animalistic snarl tearing from his throat. Rogers and Stark barely managed to position themselves in between the two, blaster and shield at the ready. “Don’t move, Loki,” Steve ordered, eyes narrowed.

Loki looked ready to tell the Captain _exactly_ what he thought of that order, but then, the deep, rumble of thunder roared to life around them. Watching as the Trickster’s face went from wrathful to unnerved, Darcy’s brows shot up. “Well, speak of the devil, or ancient Norse diety-“

Steve ignored her quip, eyes still trained on Loki. “What’s the matter? Scared of a little lightning?”

With a cautious tone, he simply replied, “I’m not particularly fond of what follows.”


	7. Listen

_“Loki, look at this!”_

_Holding out her hand to him, Loki looked with mild curiosity at large, clunky two fingered ring that she wore. Taking in dull gold color and etched runes, he was easily able to tell what it was. “So, they finally bestowed you with one.”_

_“I know, its about time!” Holding it up to the light, she made a satisfied hum. “Its ridiculous in size, but it gets the job done. Though, I’m struggling to get the hang of it. I keep opening portals to random fast food restaurants.”_

_“Perhaps you shouldn’t practice when hungry.”_

_“Psh, I’m_ always _hungry!” Pulling her wrist close and staring at the sling ring, she sighed. “The portals are never stable even to pass through though…Perhaps I’m just not good enough.”_

_Reaching to grab her wrist, he pulled her closer to observe it better. “You were trained in Asgardian Seidr, not Midgardian Mystic Arts. You know well that both have different energy focuses.”_

_“Yes, yes, I_ know, _” she replied with a roll of her eyes as she settled against the arm of his chair. “I’m just sick of them acting like I’m an idiot for not catching on quickly.”_

 _“They_ what _.”_

_“Oh stop with the menacing scowl!” Using her free hand to flick him on the ear, she chirped, “Listen to me: The Ancient One and Kae have been very understanding of the situation. And the others are just bitter that I won’t share any of the techniques you’ve taught me.”_

_He still frowned deeply. “I asked them to take you in and nurture your talents, not belittle them.”_

_Sighing, she slipped around in front of him, kneeling and taking both his hands in hers. “I am_ fine _, I swear. There is nowhere in the universe that doesn’t have a few bullies. Most treat me as an equal, I promise.” Seeing the look on his face, her eyes narrowed. “I_ am _their equal, Loki. None of this ‘Seidr is more superior’ crap.”_

_“I didn’t say a word!”_

_“I_ know _that look-“_

 _“Okay,_ fine _,” he relented. “Its good for you to be skilled in multiple forms, anyway.” Reaching to slip the sling ring off, he mused, “Perhaps I can craft you one that is more suited towards your skills… and perhaps less gaudy-“_

_The doors to his quarters slammed open, causing both to jump apart. “Brother! Why did you not inform us of Lady Darcy’s arrival?” Striding into the room without a care in the world and a beaming smile on his face, Thor continued, “She can join us for a feast tonight!”_

_With a wary glance to her, he tossed her back the sling ring and muttered, “Think you can use this thing to help us escape?”_

_“Yeah, I think we’d have better luck surviving dinner.”_

* * *

Everything had quickly gone to shit.

When Thor had appeared on quinjet, he had been all too focused on his brother to even notice Darcy who had been shoved behind the massive wall of muscle that is Steve. Then, with a sassy quip and the clunk of his face plate shifting into place, Tony had taken off without listening to her either.

Like hell was she gonna let Steve jump after those two idiots without listening.

“Steve!” she hollered darting forward to latch onto his arm. “Just stop for a second!”

He turned to her with a stern look. “Darcy, we can’t just let them get away-“

“Steve, that’s Thor! He’s on our side!” Grabbing the man’s arm and trying in vain to yank him further into the plane, she added, “But even on our side, he’s a ‘brawl first, diplomacy later’ kind of guy.’”

Begrudgingly letting her pull him away from the ramp, he still protested some. “We still need to reason with him, and Stark looks like he is going for the brawl option as well. Loki could escape during that mess.”

Shoving Steve into a seat, she then turned to the open space in front of her as she held out her arms. One hand stretched out, the little ring she always messed with flaring to life, while she spun her other hand through the air beside her. A brilliant storm of gold sparks began to flicker to life, spinning in the air in a spiral. Steve watched wide eyed as a scenery formed between the sparks, and saw Loki and Thor through the portal a few dozen feet away.

“What the-“

“Fingers crossed this stays stable this time,” she quipped, causing Steve to whip his head towards her with a panicked look. “Stay with Nat!” Before he could protest, she ran through the portal, sealing it shut the moment she was through.

Staring slack jawed as the ramp to the quinjet slowly began to close, he turned to Natasha. “This is _not_ what I expected when I joined the army.”

* * *

Stepping through the portal quickly, she paused for a solid ten seconds after it closed before whooping in success. “Ha! Still got it!”

“Lady Darcy?”

Turning her attention back to the situation at hand, she saw the two brothers staring intensely at her. “Uh, hey Thor, glad you could join…whatever in the hell the past few days has been.”

He gave her a warm, yet tired smile. “If only this were under better circumstances.”

“Yes, yes, such a pity for you all to have to see the likes of me,” Loki interjected dramatically. Seeing both of them turn their attention back to him, he queried sarcastically, “Oh, my apologies, did I interrupt your little reunion with my presence?”

Dropping Mjolnir to the ground, Thor gives him a tired yet pleading look. “We thought you _dead._ ”

Silence followed for a beat, then, quietly, Loki asked, “Did you mourn?”

“We _all_ did. Our father-“

“ _Your_ father,” Loki spat with as much venom as he could muster. “He did tell you my true parentage, did he not?” Turning his gaze onto Darcy, he asked, “I’m sure he told you, at least. He always _hated_ seeing us together.” Stalking towards her, he mused, “Is that why you turned on me, hmm? Do you fear the monster behind the mask?”

“Your race does not make you a monster, Loki,” she answered firmly, not cowering under his wrathful gaze. “You are not responsible for the wars of others, nor are you to carry the burden of stigmatism that Odin allowed towards Jotunns.” Venturing to step forward, she reached carefully towards his cheek. “You are a good man, deep down-“

Snatching her hand before she could reach him, he squeezed tightly until he heard her yelp in pain. “Do you still think me not a monster?”

“Loki, _let her go_!”

Loki looked ready to snap back at Thor, but Darcy cut him off. “I know you are under the staff’s control, Loki.”

The snap was audible and echoed through the air, followed by Darcy’s screams of pain. Dropping to the ground as he released her wrist, he coldly remarked down to her, “You should really learn to keep your mouth _shut_.”

After a moment of shock, Thor grabbed Loki by the shoulder and flung him harshly to the side, slamming him into the ground. “How _dare_ you-“

“Oh, I _dare_ ,” he snarled back,sitting up slowly and spitting blood from his mouth towards Thor’s feet. “Her insolence was cute, at first, but I grow weary of it.”

Fighting back sobs as she cradled her limp wrist, she called out, “Thor, he isn’t in control of his actions. There is another mind in his head fighting for control.”

Snarling, Loki lunged to his feet, only to have Thor snatch him once again, and this time, fling him more heavily to the rocky ground. Darcy visibly winced at the sound, and could clearly see that Loki was _certainly_ down for the count this time. “Ouch.”

“He will live,” Thor replied gruffly. “But if what you say is true and he is not in control of himself, he would not be able to live with himself if he harmed you anymore.” Moving to carefully kneel next to her, reaching with surprising gentleness for her wrist, he added, “And neither would I…”

“Eh, I’ve had worse,” she quipped before hissing in pain as he gently probed quickly bruising skin. “But yeah, that’s definitely broken.”

“And am I to assume your neck was caused by him as well?”

“…I don’t know if it helps or not to say that he didn’t know it was me at that time.”

Shutting his eyes and taking a deep breath, he replies, “I certainly hope you are correct and that he is not in control of himself.”

“I’m certain.” Shifting to try and stand up, she begrudgingly accepted Thor’s help up. “Now, we need to meet up with the others and come up with a game plan. They are not going to be pleased with you’re little stunt earlier.”

Standing tall over her, he scooped up Mjolnir and gave her a broad grin. “I am certain they will listen to my reasons-“

And out of nowhere, Iron Man collided with Thor, flinging the God off the cliffside and leaving Darcy alone with the unconscious murder God beside her as she could see a very distant Steve parachuting from the quinjet. “Yeah, because they are so good at just _listening._ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear I'm gonna catch up on replying to comments tonight. I just have a shit ton between this and my other stories. I read every single one though, and I appreciate them all!!


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